Didn't mean to call anyone a clodhopper, just saying that the mutt/purebred ratio is much more even in densely populated regions. I live in NJ, in the Philadelphia metro area, where the shelters are packed with purebred dogs. More people, more $$$, more ego and more mobility. Dogs get bought for nice middle-class families who did their research and paid for a well-bred puppy, then get transferred and can't take Rover. Most of the shelters I've seen, there are three kinds of dogs - pits and pit mixes mainly from low-income and working-class neighborhoods and towns, retriever and spaniel and collie mixes mainly from working-class and lower-middle-class towns and neighborhoods, and the purebreds, mainly from McMansion developments and wealthy towns. The ratio, especially if you discount pits from both the pure and mix ranks, is close to even.